Greening apprenticeships: Spain

This article is part of a series developed by Cedefop community of apprenticeship experts. It was drafted by Guillem Salvans, Community expert for Spain, and revised by Cedefop staff. 

In February 2023, the Spanish Government announced a new draft regulation (Real Decreto), according to which content related to the green transition will be introduced in all VET curricula in the coming years. Until that announcement, there were no comprehensive, cross-cutting initiatives of greening apprenticeships in Spain, so small local or regional projects have been the way to change professional profiles and curricula to adapt them to the current climate emergency.  

An example of this bottom-up approach comes from the update of a VET curriculum carried out by the region of Catalonia (although there are similar initiatives in most Spanish regions), to meet the specific needs of agro-ecological production with a focus on climate action. This initiative aims to train new professionals who will become experts in managing agro-ecological farms in the current context of climate emergency. 

The update process lasted 2 years and was finalised in June 2022. It builds on the regulatory provisions that give regions the right to modify parts of the national VET curricula according to the labour market needs at local/regional level. The initiative was led by the regional Government of Catalonia and the VET school of Manresa (Agricultural School) with the support of companies in the sector that were collaborating with the VET school. This shared design process shaped the update of contents and learning outcomes. 

Three new content blocks have been added to the existing curriculum, based on a pre-existing State qualification for ‘Higher technician in landscaping and rural environment’. 

• Livestock linked to the land, aiming to train professionals in the use of grazing to feed livestock and the use of animal traction in certain work on agro-ecological farms (with the ecological benefits that this entails). 
• Climate action, aiming to develop professionals capable of mitigating the effects of the climate crisis in the sector. This is achieved by increasing agricultural biodiversity, adapting the species to be cultivated, improving efficiency in the use of water (e.g. introducing training in the use of rainwater harvesting systems), energy saving, and the introduction of new renewable energy sources on agro-ecological farms. This block aims to provide future professionals with tools for identifying good practices that reduce emissions, as well as identifying harmful impacts generated by agricultural practices. 
• Agro-ecological dynamisation, aiming to develop professionals capable of understanding the value of life and rural communities, as well as running sustainable tourism businesses and carrying out actions for the conservation of rural heritage. 

The three new training blocks, with a total duration of 369 hours, represent an adaptation of approximately 18% of the training hours of the qualification (a VET degree in Spain has a duration of 2 000 hours). 

A new profile was generated for ‘Higher technician in landscaping and rural environment’, which is a professional profile of ‘Agroecology and climate action’.  

The programme leads to an IVET degree at tertiary level (higher VET) and is accessible by people aged 18 or above (no upper age limits, access requirements in relation to the previous level of education attained apply).   

The Catalan Government officially authorised this update in June 2022, and it is now fully in force.  

Students taking these courses from September 2022 onwards will graduate in June 2024.  

Although the initiative is carried out at local level (Manresa school), there is clear potential for regional expansion. Central Catalonia is an area with abundant presence of agro-ecological production farms and VET schools specialised in agriculture. The Department of Education and the Department of Agriculture of the regional Government monitor the programme implementation, with a view to replicating its introduction to other VET schools. In the future, it is likely that a State-wide VET diploma with the profile of agro-ecological farm manager will be established. 

The update directly meets the needs of local employers. In the 2nd Catalan Congress on Organic Agro-food Production, agro-ecological producers pointed out the need for higher VET training for the management of agro-ecological enterprises. Climate emergency demands skilled workers with new skills, for example, in the use of energy and water, as well as in soil management as a CO2 capture strategy. The updated curriculum also meets the needs of learners, as it provides graduates of similar intermediate level studies on agro-ecological production (seven schools in the region offer such programmes at intermediate level) with a new option in higher VET. The creation of an attractive training proposal for young people may also address the pressing need for continuity of small agro-ecological production enterprises, by strongly linking learners with older owners (1 000 hours spent at the workplace in apprenticeship programmes in Catalonia) and increasing the chances of partnerships, leasing of farms and takeovers. 

Apart from bottom-up approaches at local and regional levels, the recent announcement of a new draft regulation (Real Decreto) represents another way forward for greening apprenticeships in Spain. It has to be noted though that several stakeholders consulted have been reluctant to introduce content related to the ecological transition across VET curricula, as they argue that these are already general enough (guidance, entrepreneurship skills, foreign languages) and the technical subjects should be preserved. However, these stakeholders argue that the whole VET/apprenticeship system should be ‘greener’, e.g. through improving the sustainable transportation of students commuting to companies, better waste management by VET schools, circular economy projects or projects that support the ecological transition, etc. In conclusion, introducing green transition content in VET curricula cannot be the only element for achieving green apprenticeships.